HEADLINES

New Tax Break Could Push Seniors, Foundations, Procrastinators to Give More Charity
(HuffPost)
The House passed a tax package designed to encourage charitable donations, extending “tax breaks to people over 70 who make donations from their individual retirement accounts,” “reduc[ing] excise taxes on private charitable foundations,” allowing people who donate by April 15 to claim tax deductions on filings for the previous year, and more.

Paul Ryan Introduces New Anti-Poverty Plan
(The Chronicle of Philanthropy)
Rep. Paul Ryan proposed a new approach to federal anti-poverty funding last week that would “merge dozens of existing programs into an ‘Opportunity Grant,’ shifting the bulk of the work to combat poverty to the states.”

GEORGIA

Senate Contender Puts Down Opponent’s Nonprofit Background
(The Chronicle of Philanthropy)
Fresh off a Republican primary runoff victory, Senate candidate David Perdue, former CEO of Dollar General, wasted no time taking a swipe at opponent Michelle Nunn’s nonprofit credentials, implying that the nonprofit sector is not part of “the real world.”

FUNDRAISING

Dos and Don’ts of a Great Annual Fundraising Plan
(Fired Up Fundraising)
Planning your fundraising for the upcoming year? This list will help you get into the right mindset, from avoiding unrealistic goals and expectations to performing a where-we-are-now reality check.

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

Reactivate Your Email List: Case Study
(Getting Attention)
E-mail open rates falling? It’s a common problem, and one the Union of Concerned Scientists recently turned around with a three-part plan.

PARTNERSHIPS

Empathetic Donor-Doer Engagement
(Stanford Social Innovation Review)
A grantmaker and grantee penned this thoughtful, practical 7-point guide to closer and more productive relationships between philanthropies and their nonprofit beneficiaries, all rooted in the idea of empathy.  

PHILANTHROPY

Challenging the Big Funders: Philanthropy Startup Targets Billionaires and Their Giving
(Forbes)
A new web site called Inside Philanthropy plans to provide “news on big philanthropy and giving trends, in-depth profiles of major donors in several key sectors... and a new ratings system for foundation program officers--which rates their performance, not the nonprofits they fund.”

RESOURCES

9 Nonprofit Experts to Follow on Twitter
(CauseVox)
If you’re just getting into Twitter, you may not realize that it’s not just for getting the word out--it’s also for monitoring the word of others. Here’s nine follow-worthy accounts, including GCN favorites @BethKanter and @ABLImpact (CEO of the Nonprofit Finance Fund), that post  information and links any nonprofit pro will find useful.  

ON GCN.ORG

Field Trips 2014
(GCN)
This September, join us for a new kind of learning experience as we move out of the office and into the field to experience strategy in action.

Marc Schultz is writer/editor at the Georgia Center for Nonprofits and the managing editor of Georgia Nonprofit NOW.